Zimbardo vs. Rowling on Heroism

Everyone should watch this talk:

Philip Zimbardo, famous for his 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, discusses factors that induce ordinary people to perform extraordinary acts of cruelty. For decades, social psychologists have known about the influence of situational factors in fostering human cruelty and indifference (the banality of evil). But as a new contribution, Zimbardo also discusses the banality of heroism as a counterpoint to blind obedience/indifference (i.e. how ordinary people can be trained to act heroically).

His hypotheses:

1. Classic childhood superheroes are ineffective models for real-life heroism because they have superpowers that are too far-removed from the ordinary person (i.e. it's difficult for ordinary individuals to relate to superheroes, so they classify heroic behavior as something they are not capable of performing).
2. By highlighting stories of ordinary people choosing to act heroically in extraordinary circumstances, we celebrate the ordinary hero and encourage all people to follow suit (see the story of Professor Liviu Librescu as an example).

But is it true that fantastical heroes don't inspire heroic action in everyday people? Absolutely not! Dumbledore's Army... er... Harry Potter Alliance to the rescue!! Here's a description from their site:

Did you ever wish that Harry Potter was real? Well it kind of is. After all, both our worlds face "dark and difficult times":

• Genocide, Poverty, AIDS, and Global Warming are ignored by our media and governments the way Voldemort's return is ignored by the Ministry and Daily Prophet.
• People are still discriminated against based on sexuality, race, class, gender, ethnicity, and religion just as the Wizarding World continues to discriminate against Centaurs, Giants, House Elves, Half-Bloods, Muggle borns, Squibs, and Muggles
• Our governments continue to respond to terror by torturing prisoners (often without trial) just as Sirius Black was tortured by dementors with no trial
• A Muggle Mindset pervades over our culture-a mindset that values being "perfectly normal, thank you very much" over being interesting, original, loving, and creative

Apparently, there's a chapter in Boston but looks like it's 100% Emerson students :(